Monarch henchmen
The henchmen of the Monarch, in particular the recurring characters #21 and #24, are supporting characters of the Adult Swim program the Venture Bros. Doc Hammer voices #21, and Christopher McCulloch voices #24. In General The henchmen of the Monarch are, in a word, woeful. All are out of shape, none are particuraly clever, and they all have absolutely no ambition or initative. Most of them seemingly joined the Monarch because they had nothing better open to them or for them to do if #21 and 24's origins are of any indication; and most of them have mundane tasks or jobs ("Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean". Dr. Girlfriend has declared at one point there were eighty-three henchmen, although the Monarch's penchant for killing random ones when he is in a bad mood indicates that either he had good recruiting policies to work up to that number or a generally inexhaustible supply. Their outfit is of black tights with a golden-orange leotard over it, golden-orange boots, gloves, wings, antennae, and mask, with the eye-goggles colored red. Their belt has a butterfly symbol as the buckle and none of the henchmen are in good enough shape to make the costume look impressive. All are assigned a number, but junior henchmen seem to be given a pet nickname and the costume is without cowl, antennae, or wings (the sign that a henchmen is a full-fledged one). Speedy was one such recruit, unlike most of them, he actually attempted to capture the Venture Boys to earn his wings, but an enraged Brock Samson strangled him, not letting go even after being run over by the Monarch-Mobile, and he had to be mercy-killed. The henchmen's relationship with their employer can be complex; as noted, they seem to be utterly despensible (Brock is able to take out dozens at a time). Yet they can have an almost bizzare parental relationship with the Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend, whom will dress up the flying Cocoon base in Christmas decorations for them ("A Very Venture Christmas"), who will drive them and discipline them as if they were mere children ("Tag-Sale -- You're It!"), and the Monarch proclaimed the henchmen had cried themselves to sleep at night ("Hate Floats") to Dr. Girflriend over her absence. When the Monarch was thrown in jail, all the henchmen except for the by-then recurring #21 and 24 had defected to another supervillain, Monstroso. Due to this, the remaining duo recruited new henchmen from inner-city thugs and gangsters. These new henchmen, though far more aggressive and equipped with firearms, were totally uncontrollable by the Monarch after their first, botched mission to capture Dr. Girlfriend (instead taking Dr. Venture) and mutinied, taking control of the Cocoon and tossing the Monarch, #21 and 24, and Dr. Venture into a prison cell. It took Brock and the Phantom Limb to crush them on a rescue mission, which they did quite easily. #21 Number-21, whose real name is Gary, is an overweight pop culture geek. He was captured by the Monarch to serve him at age 15, despite this, he seemed to have not only not lose contact with his family but also to grow to enjoy henching. He was one of the henchmen to help organize a party with Baron Underbheit's soldiers after their plans to kill Dr. Venture cancelled the other's out, and presumably was one of the few to escape Venture's mad robot G.U.A.R.D.O. He also bought off of Venture a supposedly working lightsaber, one that actually lit up. Eager to live out his dreams of being a Jedi Knight, he attacked Brock Samson in a manner reminiscent of the Star Wars kid, but learned the lightsabre only lit up and did not actually do any damage. He ran away from Brock before he could be harmed. He alongside #24 published the tell-all book "The Flight of the Monarch", keeping silent, this chain of events was the start of Monarch's slide into jail. He was one of the few (two, in fact) to not abandon the Monarch when he was in prison, helping to destroy the Cocoon and notably also accidentally shot the Venture boys, attempting to show them the gun he wanted ammunition for. At a henchmens'-anoymonous meeting he talked of how he could possibly become a supervillain on his own accord, the 'Viceroy'. He finally saw his friend #24 in the flesh there, according to 24 #21 'does the whole Kevin Smith' thing in appearance. When he learned the Monarch was back in business he eagerly left home (where he lived with his mother, and running a comic book hotline) to re-enter his employer's services and helped recruit a new brevy of henchmen that eventually jailed him, Dr. Venture, and the Monarch after a botched attempt to take back Dr. Girlfriend. His collection of comic-book toys and memorablia were the weapons the quartet attempted to use to beat back the new henchmen, only to find Brock and Phantom Limb had done it in the meantime (who then proceeded to thrash the Monarch). #24 Number-24 is usually seen in conjunction with #21, and seems to act as the slightly more smarter and grounded of the two. Notably, he was the one to mercy-kill Speedy (stating "this sucks!") in Tijuana, and he revealed that he entered the Monarch's sevice due to his G.E.D. not allowing him many careers. Like #21 he actually seems to enjoy being a henchman, and being taller and thinner, is described by #21 as looking like "Jerry Seinfeld with a unibrow", and has a voice very similar to Ray Romano. He seems to own a car that he used to pick #21 up on their return to the Monarch. He frequently has arguments with #21 on unusual hypothetical situations, such as if Smurfs lay eggs ("Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean"). [Venture Bros. characters